ALIVE TO GOD
Today’s Reading: Romans 7
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).
The Arch of Titus is a first-century honorific arch located on the Via Sacra in Rome, just to the southeast of the Roman Forum. It was constructed in 82 AD by the Roman Emperor Domitian, shortly after the death of his older brother Titus, to commemorate Titus’ victories, including the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The Arch of Titus has provided the general model for many of the triumphal arches erected since the 16th century. Perhaps most famously, it is the inspiration for the 1806 Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, completed in 1836.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Romans 7:24-25a
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Jesus said in Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Yesterday’s blog dealt with the word “reckon,” which means “consider it a fact” that we who believe are crucified, dead and buried with Christ. Therefore, the old sin life has no power over us. There’s a horror story here regarding that “body of death” referred to in our key verse. The Romans would, from time to time, chain a dead rotting body to a living prisoner. Imagine carrying that around. The sin life is one of unbearable stench and disease. Who is our Deliverer from sin…from this “body of death”? The answer is found in verse 25. He is “Jesus Christ our Lord!” He lived a pure and holy life, and He lives within the believer. Therefore, we have all we need to be free from sin as long as we surrender our all 24/7!!! Amen!
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Lord, help me to remember Galatians 2:20 each morning…”I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave Himself for me.” Please Lord, give me the grace and the consistency to keep quoting (mostly under my breath) and believing 100% this powerful motivator for holy living, confessing it as fact! Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
My son, David Reynold, is a professional photographer. His award-winning photography blesses us each day here on 100words.ca. When he was a young boy and had done something worthy of punishment, I would send him to his room to await my arrival. I’d find him on his knees, begging God to make him a good boy, and to help him to not do the wrong thing ever again. One time, I noticed that he looked at me with one eye, the other covered with his hand, in order to see how I was reacting to his prayer. When I smiled, he knew he had disarmed me. I would emphasize the error of his ways and forgive him as he and I both knew God had already done. In recent years he has led amazing world missions projects, raising millions of dollars for missions, and overseeing those projects on the ground. He and his wife Kathy are currently leading a unique God-birthed initiative in Uganda. Thanks David Reynold Mainse for helping your Dad make this blog unique among blogs by your excellent photography. I love you.
Yours for a life lived in abandon to God,
David
P.S. For some reason I feel compelled to put the pictures below on the blog. Three days after the birth of our great-granddaughter, Jadice Elizabeth Patterson, my other son, Ron (the grandpa), took a picture of her in the same pose as her 3-D ultrasound (taken at 30 weeks gestation). I can’t understand how pro-choice people, many of them people of good will, could approve of the one baby being ripped apart in the womb, yet so caring and nourishing toward the newborn. Canada has absolutely no laws protecting the life on the left (see photo below). This is truly sad and just plain evil! The sin in our human hearts must break the heart of God.
Jadice Patterson at age 4!
Jadice has her grandmother Ann’s smile…beautiful picture!
Roman’s is such a powerful book…it fills me with hope and joy, that
I too, am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Amen, Anne!
Amen Anne
Amen
Jadice is adorable.Today’s message is a good reminder that we do not have full control.Jesus lived 100% as a human to know what we all face so He understood our weakness even though He did not sin.Thank you,Jesus !
Amen
Amen Rob. I agree. I do not believe it was God’s peaceful protestors that caused the havoc in the White House. As I stated a couple of days ago, The ending of a prayer opening their 117th parliament with Amen & Awoman, concerns me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Goz2y7xPQ9c. Sorry I can’t get that to highlight as a link but if you type it in you will get a program from Victory Channel, Flashpoint, much more positive and uplifting than the mainstream media.
You can also google: Victory Channel and once on there look under Shows and you will find lots of info, but for news I like to watch Flashpoint and America Stands. I believe you can find Victory Channel on Dish TV. I don’t have access that way, so I am burning data. God Bless everyone and please continue to pray for a positive outcome and that the truth comes out. Beverlee Kay, I have always said Trump is so unpresidential, but I am not the one to judge, I just pray that God has his hand in revealing the truth whatever it is.
God is in control and it will play itself out. Rest assured, HJR.
I did look up the ending of the prayer by Pastor Emanuel Cleaver and was going to post the article I read. But it seemed like an over load of information, at the time. He said it was not about gender but unity, however, the Republicans slammed him because they felt it was about gender.
Here it is, if anyone wants to read it, now: https://www.kctv5.com/news/local_news/congressman-cleaver-explains-ending-prayer-with-amen-a-woman/article_cf0f6724-4eeb-11eb-9335-b776dc374c34.html
Some key bits from it:
“Amen is a transliteration of the Hebrew word amen [ em’a ]. The verb form occurs more than one hundred times in the Old Testament and means to take care, to be faithful, reliable or established, or to believe someone or something.”
Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II said the opening prayer for the 117th Congress Sunday and his words raised some eyebrows. He ended the prayer saying “amen and a woman.”
Cleaver told KCTV5 his “a woman” line was just a lighthearted pun considering the record number of women in congress. “With that kind of gender and inclusion in the Congress, the most diverse Congress in history, I ended my prayer by saying ‘a woman,” he said.
“After I prayed, Republicans and Democrats alike were coming up to me saying ‘thank you for the prayer. We needed it. We need somebody to talk to God about helping us to get together.’ It was a prayer of unity,” he said.
Cleaver is an ordained minister, previously serving as pastor of St. James United Methodist Church. He says he’ll continue to pray for our country despite the criticism.
“We’ve got 300 some thousand people who have died of COVID and some people are concerned because I used two words—‘a woman?’ It’s mind boggling,” he said.
From now on the opening prayer will be led by the newly appointed House Chaplain, Margaret Grun Kibben, who happens to be the very first woman in that role.
After some national news outlets posted articles about the prayer, social media lit up with criticism.
Donald Trump Jr. tweeted “The prayer to open the 117th congress ended with ‘amen and a-woman.’ Amen means ‘So Be It’ in Latin. It isn’t a gendered word but that didn’t stop them from being insane. Is this what you voted for?”
Newt Gingrich tweeted “‘Amen and awoman.’ perfect House Democrat prayer ending as House Dems focus on gender security…”
From Rabbi Yaakov Menken on Twitter:
Amen (אמן) isn’t originally Latin either, but is the Biblical Hebrew affirmation of belief derived from אמונה meaning trust and faith. One way or the other, awoman is meaningless gibberish. This is Congress, so it’s unlikely to get better.
Personally, I don’t think a Pastor of any denomination should change the ending of a prayer that closes with amen. This is not the first time I have heard Amen changed, interestingly enough. Perhaps, if we had been there, under the stress they were experiencing, we might see it differently. Either way, we will each have our own opinion, that is for certain. The one thing we do share that is the only thing that matters, is our love for God. His second command is to love thy neighbour, which we all are to one another, too. His blessings, fellow saints in the Lord. Amen.
May God’s will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven.
Dear Lord God, please help all Your people fix their eyes on You, Lord Jesus. You are the Saviour, not Donald Trump or Joe Biden or Justin Trudeau or Erin O’Toole. These are just human beings, with the same strengths and weaknesses common to all of us. You tell us to pray for our leaders, so we can live peaceful and productive lives in Your service. Give our leaders, politically and otherwise, wisdom. Bring Godly men and women into positions of authority and influence in all areas of life. We pray that Your will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Thank You, Father, that this is Your world, and that You have made every person with great potential. Help us to look to You for the help we need in realizing that potential. Please, Lord, keep on building Your church in this and coming generations. In Jesus’s great name, amen
Thank you for sharing this Rob.
Very special pictures of the wee one. WOW !
Amen Rob, Lord Jesus help us to keep our eyes on you. Amen!